I don’t even know where to begin with this book. I flew through the pages and was 100% obsessed with this book from the beginning. Every twist and turn of this novel had me hooked. I easily fell in love with all of the characters and could not put this book down. The story follows Fritzi a witch and Otto a witch hunter. The dual POV gave this book so much more depth. I cannot say enough good things about this book, but also can’t say too much with fear of giving some of those twists and turns away! Let’s just say I hung on to every single word of Night of the Witch and cannot wait for book 2! The ending cliffhanger will have you begging for more. I will be thinking about this book, talking about this book, and convincing my friends to read this book for the foreseeable future.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for my review.

2.5 stars

One faithful day in West-Germany Fritzi's coven gets attacked by a troupe of Hexenjäger, leaving her and her cousin as the sole survivor's. However, while Fritzi is able to flee, her ten year old cousin, Liesel, gets taken by Kommandant Dieter Kirch. Meanwhile, Otto Ernst, Kapitän in this army of Hexenjäger tries to take down this institution from the inside out. In this journey, Fritzi and Otto might make unlikely allies at first, but they decide to band together in their common goal: save Liesel and the witches (which are almost all innocent people) and take down Kommandant Dieter Kirch.

This is a pretty interesting reimagining of the European Witch Trials that too place in Trier, Germany, and were the predecessor of a wave of witch trials across Europe and eventually of the Salem Witch Trials as well.

I was definitely into the premise and I enjoyed the writing. A couple of things that I didn't enjoy as much were the pacing and the character "building". At the start I was feeling this book: I enjoyed the writing and the characters seemed promising. However, I didn't feel like there was much chemistry between Fritzi and Otto, and for them to fall in love within a day, was a bit much. Too insta-lovey for me.

The plot is kind of all over the place. The way the magic works in this book is honestly kind of confusing. And not in the sense that I didn't get it, I feel like it was more the authors' fault for not creating a consise enough magic system. The things that were happening weren't really explained or were simply brushed aside. I feel like a lot of the explanations of how the magic in this world works, were simply there to advance the story or solve things very conveniently. It just doesn't make for a very well thought-out world to me.

I'm not sure I will be picking up the second book. There's a tiny bit of FOMO in me that says "Yeah, you probably will. You'll want to know how it ends."

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The perfect YA fantasy. Easy to fall into with characters you love to hate and a rich lie that sucks you in. The distinction of writing styles between authors still meshes well and brings the world alive.

This is such a adventurous story. I loved the two main characters and the world building is great too. At times the story felt slow but that did not deter me at all. I did take issue with how the communication between characters in the story. It didn't make sense for them to leave everyone in the dark all the time.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks for providing me with an ARC.

I really wanted to like this book. It has a fantastic premise, but I just couldn't get into the story. Overall, I feel like this book wasn't for me. I didn't find the worldbuilding or characters to be very compelling. I believe they could have been developed more and this would have been a book I would have fallen in love with. There were moments in the book that felt like they dragged on for too long and some aspects felt like they were rushed over.

i really tried to get into this book, but i had to dnf it. it's sad but i hope other people will find it enjoyable!

Thank you Netgalley & Source Books Fire for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wish I was a YA girlie - I’m just not. And that’s okay! The plot was good & I was intrigued, but overall I wanted more. The storyline was a little clunky, & I spent a lot of time confused about what was happening. I didn’t feel much chemistry between the main characters & the pacing was off.

Overall, it was okay. I think I would have enjoyed an adult version of this!

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book!

I was so excited for this book, and the premise of the story is really good. But, the story itself was so boring I couldn't stand it! The plot was boring, the story dragged, and the characters felt so forced.

I was very disappointed in this book, and I was so excited for it. I don't know if this book was a let-down because I was so excited, or what, but it was just a snooze fest.

Rating: 2⭐️

I loved Sara Raasch’s “Snow Like Ashes” series as well as “These Rebel Waves.” Beth Revis’s writing was new to me. “Night of the Witch” was a fascinating tale of revenge and unexpected love. I absolutely loved that it was set during an actual historical event with a fantasy twist. This a first read of this kind for me. I can’t wait for my students to have it in our library.

Oh, that ending! I was a little skeptical about the synopsis, but I ended up really enjoying this one. I think the recommendation of this being for fans of Serpent & Dove is perfect.

I’ve been attempting to get through this book for the last two months, and I could only get to 50%. I figured I’d come back to it at some point, but I find myself not wanting to. The storyline was interesting, but I just couldn’t get into it. I found myself not connecting with or caring about any of these characters one bit. I just didn’t get enough about any of them to truly care, are therefore it was a struggle to read every page. I had high hopes, but it just wasn’t a hit for me.

A very intriguing plot idea but the execution could’ve been better in my opinion. I didn’t fully believe the romance and it felt like it wasn’t organic.

Great world building and romance against the odds.

- enemies to lovers
- YA fantasy
- banter
- forbidden romance

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this free E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun, quick read for me. I really enjoyed the magic in this book and thought that the world building was done well. I also liked our main characters, and enjoyed having chapters from both of their perspectives. However, the romance felt rushed to me. I enjoyed my time overall, but I don't know if I'll pick up the next book.

I thought this would be d bit different going in. I really enjoyed the magic and the world building, but I could not get behind the other religion in the book. Additionally, I really didn't buy into the romance. It felt rushed if I am being honest. I did like the villain arc, that did catch me by surprise and I really did enjoy the magic system. I just feel like there was a bit too much God in it for my liking of teen fantasy books.

Night of the Witches is set in Germany, with witch trails more like a historical retelling with YA. I would enjoy the Adult version. This is very different then Sara or Beth's usually work and it may be because the combine writing style. I like the cliffhanger, I just want more and more from every aspect! Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Fire, and the authors for providing me with this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

Genre: YA historical fantasy

Similar Books:
Serpent & Dove

Synopsis:
Fritzi’s coven gets killed & captured by witch hunters. She vows to find survivors and get revenge all while trying to control her magic.

This was a slow burn witch hunter book with dual POVs. I loved the historical aspect surrounding the witch trials in Europe. This book adds fantasy to the trials with powerful witches, potions, and wild magic. The enemies to lovers romance was more of a subplot with room to grow in the next book. It ends with a cliffhanger and is set up nicely for a sequel. If you enjoyed the pace and witch hunter vibes of Serpent & Dove, you will like this book!

Thank you SourceBooks Fire for the ARC! 🧙‍♀️

Interesting overall historical take on the witch trials set in Germany. Very light enemies to lovers vibes. Witch and witch hunter quickly learn there is more to the other than they originally thought. As enemies turn into allies, something more blossoms between the two. As they focus on stopping Kommandant Dieter Kirch and saving magic, you will be left standing at a cliffs edge as you wait for the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire and Raasch & Revis for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was based around the Trier witch trials in Germany between 1581 and 1593. While I did not know anything of these events before reading the book, I feel that the authors did a fantastic job with the storyline and created what was a harrowing read at times. It was the perfect combination of historical fiction and fantasy, with lots of magic and a compelling storyline.

I enjoyed the dual POV between Fritz, our witch FMC and Otto, the witch hunter! The premise of “a witch should never fall for her hunter” sucked me right in to this one, I am a sucker for that forbidden romance / enemies to lovers vibe. However, I wish there was more chemistry between the two MC’s. I could see what the author was doing, and there was also that element of slow burn - and let me tell you, it was slow burning up until 80% and if you’ve read the book you know the scene! But OMG I wanted so much more by that point and then it fell a bit flat for me, the slow burn sizzled out and I just didn’t believe in the “romance”.

I won’t go too much in to the plot in this review as I don’t think you can ever really say much without spoiling it for the next reader, but I will say there were a few nice surprises along the way. Things weren’t always as they seemed and I really fell in love with Otto as a character.

Although the chapters were quite short in this book, which I usually love, I struggled a bit with the pacing. Sometimes I felt like I was flying through the book, there was a lot happening and I was easily bouncing from one chapter the next. Then at other times I felt like you had read 4 or 5 chapters and not really moved any further in the story or there wasn’t much going on, if that makes sense!

This is the first book of what will be a series, and the ending of the book opens up nicely to introduce a second book. It will be a series I continue to read, I just hope we get a bit more character development in the next one as I feel like the book had a whole cast of characters that I struggled to keep up with or connect too.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story and the characters. Although, I wish there had been slightly more build up to the main events and the romance felt a bit too sudden, I overall enjoyed it.

I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out.